High School Musical 3 My Version
by Freakishlylovable
Summary: I was bored, so I started this.  It's High School Musical 3 and it takes place during the Wildcat's senior year.  It will be tons of short chapters, because I'm throwing in some musical number.  Which are written by me, so please be nice about them!
1. Chapter 1

* * *

It was September and that meant that school is back in session for the East High Wildcats. And other than Gabriella and Taylor, no one is too pleased about it.

"I can't believe summer is over." Chad moaned, once the group finally reached the school building, with the East High colors, red and white, painted on posters and put on banners that draped across the front of the school. You could look down at the ground and see the giant painting of an wildcat, which of course was red and white, that the art club painted there. (Jason's a part of that club and suggested the idea of the wildcat, but only his friends know that he joined the club).

All around students were giving giant hugs to the friends they had barely seen all summer. But Troy, Gabriella, Taylor, Chad, Martha, Zeke, Jason, Kelsi, and Ryan had been with each other the entire time at Ryan and Sharpay's country club. Sharpay was supposed to walk in with them, but chose against it. Her old ways were beginning to return.

"I'm kind of glad that summer is over." Gabriella admitted, with a smile, gazing adoringly and excitedly at her school.

"Why?" everyone but Taylor asked.

"I missed school. And this is the first year that I'm gonna be in a school for two years straight!"

"Thank goodness." Taylor said, giving Gabriella a winning smile.

"But school is gonna be horrible." Chad said.

"Why?" Taylor asked.

"Um, because it's school!" he answered as if it were obvious.

"I don't know, the summer was getting a little boring towards the end. At least we won't be bored out of our minds anymore." Troy added, trying to side with Gabriella and Taylor (mostly because Gaby was his girlfriend), but completely agreeing with Chad, school isn't going to be a nonstop party.

"Yeah, way too much work." Jason said.

"I love learning, but I don't wanna work as hard this year." Martha chimed in.

"Come on guys, school is cool!" Gabriella declared. It was just met by grunts from the rest of the group.

Gabriella and Taylor looked at each other knowing what had to be done, and suddenly, like it was movie magic, music started playing.

**Gabriella**_- It's time for new shoes_

**Taylor**_- And new binder rings_

**Gabriella-**_ No more boredom blues _

**Taylor-**_ Time for new songs to sing_

**Chad-**_ It's time for more homework_

**Zeke-**_And the SATS_

**Jason-**_ It's far too much work_

**Troy, Chad, Zeke, Jason, Martha, Kelsi, and Ryan-**_ Don't make us go back please_

**Gabriella and Taylor-**_ When are you going to see?_

**Gabriella and Taylor**_-_

_Back to School_

_Is so beyond cool_

_You get to see friends_

_That'll be there 'til the end_

_You become smart_

_But start paint fights in art_

_We're Seniors now_

_We can do whatever we want now_

_Dance and sing in the gym_

_Just go out on a whim_

_And you will see _

_How cool school can actually be_

**Gabriella-**_ You get invited to parties_

**Chad-**_ We already do_

**Jason**_- And we get grades that are D's too_

**Taylor-**_ I guess I gotta give ya a clue_

**Taylor-**_ It's our senior year_

**Taylor-**_ Let out a cheer_

**Gabriella-**_ You get to go to the Prom_

**Gabriella-**_ And, no more carpools from Mom_

**Gabriella and Taylor-**

_Back to School_

_Is so beyond cool_

_You get to see friends_

_That'll be there 'til the end_

_You become smart_

_But start paint fights in art_

_We're Seniors now_

_We can do whatever we want now_

_Dance and sing in the gym_

_Just go out on a whim_

_And you will see _

**All But Jason-**

_How cool school can actually be_

**Ryan-**_We'll dance and sing_

**Chad-**_ Do our thing_

**Gabriella**_- We'll break free_

**Troy-**_ Together you and me_

**Kelsi**_- We'll start something new_

**Martha-**_ Have tons of things to do_

**Ryan-**_ We'll find what we're looking for_

**Zeke**_- Everything and more_

**Taylor-**_ You'll love this school_

**Jason-**_ No, not ever_

**Gabriella**_- Never say never_

**All-**_ 'Cause we're all in this together_

**All**

_Back to School_

_Is so beyond cool_

_You get to see friends_

_That'll be there 'til the end_

_You get to learn to be smart_

_Start paint fights in art_

_We're Seniors now_

_We can do whatever we want now_

_Dance and sing in the gym_

_Just go out on a whim_

_And you will see _

_How cool school can actually be_

**Gabriella and Taylor**_- How cool school is for me _

**Troy-**_ And me_

**Martha**_- And me_

**Chad-**_ And me_

**Kelsi- **_And me_

**Jason-**_ And me_

**Ryan-**_ And me_

**Zeke-**_ And me_

**Sharpay-**_Make way for me!_ She said, breaking the musical number by speaking. Suddenly, the music stopped and everyone quickly assumed normal positions pretending they weren't just dancing and singing a second ago, even though for some reason that happened a lot at East High.

Sharpay then shoved past them and started strutting into school in her high heels.

"Sharpay!" Zeke shouted following the blonde. "I baked something for you." he said, out of breath once he caught up to her.

"Oh?" she said, trying to sound surprised, but Zeke always baked her stuff, he liked her and Sharpay knew it. She wasn't sure yet if she had the same feelings, but she loved his cooking, so she played along with the flirting. Besides, he gave her gifts!

"Here are some fresh baked 'Welcome Back to School' cookies." Zeke said, handing a package wrapped in pink full of cookies over to Sharpay. "My recipe." he added.

"Why thank you Zeke." she said in an overly saccharine way, and then gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Bye now!" Sharpay added before she took off.

"Wow," Zeke whispered to himself rubbing his cheek. Sharpay kissed him!

"That guy is hopeless." Chad said staring at Zeke.

"Aw, I think it's cute." Gabriella added.

"But he'll never get her." Ryan said. Before anything else could be said, the bell rang and the Wildcat's went into the building. But before they got on with their day, Troy held Gabriella's hand, squeezed it affectionately, then whispered in her ear, "This is our year."


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

"Students! Students! Please quiet down!" the Principal shouted, trying to stretch is voice over all the talking students in the auditorium. Each year, on the first day of school, the staff force the students to sit down and listen to some boring assembly that the students couldn't care less about. They would welcome them back, the students wouldn't listen. They would talk about the new additions to the school, the students wouldn't listen. They could say or do just about anything and the staff was confident that the students wouldn't even hear them.

That is why the Principal was in a particularly good mood today, because he had a school announcement to top all other school announcements, and the students won't be too pleased with that he has to say. But, they never listen, so it isn't as if it really mattered.

Troy and his basketball buddies were talking incredibly loudly, while the poor principal was trying to get everyone's attention. Gabriella nudged him.

"Troy, quiet." she whispered. "I wanna hear what he has to say." Troy instantly stopped talking and sat like a good boy to show Gabriella he can listen, especially to her. That just earned an eye role from Chad.

Yeah, Gabriella was the greatest. One of Chad's best friend's, always the sweetest girl imaginable, and always there for him, even last summer when Troy wasn't. Plus, Troy and Gaby make a great couple. But sometimes Troy gets too caught up with Gaby. It's like she places him under a spell. He has to do everything she says, he can't help it. Though if Gabriella knew this was the effect she had on Troy she would feel horrible about doing that, so Chad didn't say anything. He just rolled his eyes each and every time.

Finally the room was quiet and announcements began. They got their welcoming speech, which no one listened to, other than Gabriella and a reluctant Troy. Now came the hard part.

"East High is going to have a very exciting addition to the school." the Principal began, all the sudden kind of nervous. "This year we are playing host to the school West High!"

What he said was met by gasps, roars, groans, boos, and various yells of frustration. West High was East High's arch enemy. The two schools didn't get along and pretty much hated each other. And now, the students from West High are coming to school at East High.

"As some of you might have heard," the principal continued, for the first time knowing the students were hanging on his every word. "West High School has burnt down in an unfortunate hot air ballooning incident. The balloon crashed into the school and set the entire thing on fire, but miraculously, no one was hurt!" he said cheerfully. The students reactions were still the same.

"Anyway, they'll be here for your first period class after homeroom. So I expect you all to welcome them with open arms." he finished. "Again I would like to welcome all of our East High Wildcat's back to school!" then he got out of that room as quickly as possible.

"No way," Troy said slowly. He was stunned.

"What?" Gabriella asked. She was still semi new, so she was unaware of the rivalry.

"Those balloon crashing baboons are going to be in our school!" Chad shouted.

"There's something wrong with them?" Gabriella asked.

"East High and West High have had a major rift for the past twenty years," Taylor began. "It all started two decades ago when West High stole the Wildcat mascot. And ever since, have been are biggest competition in basketball, us beating them last year was the first time we have beat them in twenty years."

"Yeah, because they cheat!" Chad said.

"We had a Wildcat mascot?" Gabriella asked, diverting the conversation to another topic.

"It's," Zeke began embarrassed of the mascot himself, "a goat in a red and white wildcat costume."

"Yeah, they made us get rid of him two years ago because of animal cruelty or something like that." Jason said.

"So, you guys hate each other and that's why the schools in such an uproar?" Gabriella asked, just to confirm.

"Yeah." Troy said.

"That's stupid." she said.

"Troy," Chad said pulling Troy aside. "Talk to her."

"It's not exactly stupid." Troy began. Chad wanted him to tell her to hate the West High students, but Troy knew that was impossible. Gaby didn't hate anybody. That's why he liked her so much.

"No, it's pretty stupid. You are carrying on a stupid grudge that happened when your parents went to school here. It's a new set of kids. Just move on." Gaby said.

"Yeah," Troy said weakly. "Yeah, that's a good idea." he said quickly glancing back at Chad, who yet again, rolled his eyes.

"So, how are we gonna get back at them?" Jason asked once Troy and Gaby went off to class.

"Yeah, I can't wait for the payback." Chad said.

"Did you not hear a word that Gabriella just said?" Taylor asked, appalled. Gaby proved a point.

"Yeah, but that's her opinion." Zeke said.

"Which just so happens to be right." Taylor replied.

"I completely agree." Chad cut in.

"Good, see you boys later." she said before she got up and left.

"You'd agree with her on anything." Zeke said, nudging Chad. Referring to his long crush on Taylor, and lack of guts to do anything about it.

"Why don't you just go and bake Sharpay some more cookies." Chad muttered.

A few minutes later, right after homeroom, the unmistakable sound of school buses pulling up in front of the school hit the hallways. And all of East High seemed to stand still in anticipation. West High had arrived.


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

Once the buses arrived, East High was finally about to get a look at the West High kids, but Miss Darbus shooed them into their classrooms before they had the chance to get a good look.

Gabriella, Taylor, and Martha were in Advanced Placement physics, working on an formula when some West High Students walked in.

"Oh," Ms. Chapman, the teacher said. "Class, I would like you to give a warm welcome your new classmates." Some people scoffed, other smirked, but Gabriella and Taylor smiled. It took a little convincing to get Martha to smile, but she eventually did.

Their new classmates were two people, a boy and a girl. The boy was tall, dark and handsome. Quite different from the nerdy guys that Gabriella usually found in her Advance Placement classes. He was very easy on the eyes. Then Gabriella realized that she was staring. Apparently Taylor and Martha realized too, because they mouthed the name Troy to her.

The girl was tall and pretty. She had blonde hair and looked athletic. She managed to give a weak smile throughout her very cold welcome, but you could tell she was hurt from it and extremely nervous.

"This is Justin Thompson and Alexis Madison." Ms. Chapman said. "There are plenty of free seats, does anyone want to offer one up and sit next to Justin and Alexis?" All the students remained quiet except for Gabriella.

"They can sit next to me, Ms. Chapman." Gabriella said warmly. Gabriella quickly noticed the smile that swept across Alexis' face.

"Thank you Gabriella." said Ms. Chapman, while giving a stern look to the rest of the class for not being as welcoming as Miss Montez.

Justin and Alexis walked over and sat next to Gabriella, and right near Taylor and Martha.

"Hey, I'm Gabriella, but you can call me Gaby."

"I'm Alexis."

"Justin."

"Oh, and this is Taylor and Martha." she said pointing to the two girls who gave a smile to the new kids.

While the three resident geniuses of the school were in Physics, Kelsi, Ryan, and Sharpay were in music appreciation class, run by Miss Darbus.

"Ah, here are our new students." said Miss Darbus, with her usual airy tone. In walked two girls. One looked like she could be Sharpay's twin and wore pink from head to toe, not to mention the clothes designer and she had blonde hair. This girl was quite beautiful, but the girl next to her was even more stunning.

She wore no makeup and just had on jeans, but she was still gorgeous. With her long black hair flowing to the sides and bringing out her bright blue eyes, and she had pale but beautiful skin and delicate features, that made her the most beautiful girl Ryan had ever seen. He seriously felt the air leave his body. In that second he fell for the mysterious black haired girl.

"Class this is, Sarah Leslie," Miss Darbus said motioning to the blonde haired girl, "And Courtney Farber," she said revealing the beauty's identity. Ryan silently said the name Courtney. He liked that name.

"They can sit next to me!" Ryan instantly said, raising his hand, earning him a chuckle from the rest of the class because of his eagerness. Sarah didn't seem to care, but Courtney blushed a little.

"Hi, I'm Ryan." he said to Courtney when she sat down, offering her his hand to shake. Her hands were soft. Yeah, he definitely liked her.

Troy, Chad, Zeke, and Jason were in gym class when the new students arrived. A bunch of guys walked into the gym, Coach Bolton showed a little disdain when he welcomed them in. He didn't want West High intruding on his team. This could spell disaster if he wasn't careful about what he revealed. But this is only gym class, it's not as if they made the basketball team and are going to know the teams secrets and plays. Even knowing this, Mr. Bolton seemed very uncomfortable.

But not nearly as uncomfortable as the new guys felt. The rest of the class was staring them down like hawks ready to kill.

"Okay, boys," the coach said addressing the class. "This is David Sanders, Michael Watson, and Barry Kent." Troy knew who the guys were, they were all basketball players. And good ones too. One's that could cause trouble if they made it onto the East High team.

"Sanders, Watson, and Kent, go over there near those boys!" the coach shouted in his normal gym room voice. The three boys immediately went over to where Mr. Bolton pointed, right near Troy, Chad, Zeke, and Jason.

None of them acted like the other was around, they just worked out in silence. Eventually Coach Bolton came over and leaned near Troy to whisper ominously, "Watch them."


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

"Club and after school activity sign ups are today. Miss Darbus is looking for some talented composers to write her fall musical. And a week after that, try outs for the parts begin. Also, basketball team tryouts are today, both boys and girls. Yes, even you returning Wildcat superstars have to try out with the rest of them. Finally, the scholastic decathlon club meeting is tomorrow after school, voice lessons are today after school, art club is tomorrow after school, and soccer tryouts are next Monday, with the first game on Friday. I hope all you Wildcats make the best of the new school year, the same with the West Highers, you are welcome to join any activity that you want!. Have a great day!" Mr. Conners, a teacher at the school said during the end of school announcements.

Gabriella had been walking down the hallway with Alexis from her physics class, and just about all of her classes. She instantly became an ally to Alexis.

"So, are you going to join any clubs?" Gabriella asked.

"I'm not sure yet. I don't think anyone would like me and the rest of us over there at West, to be invading on anybody's turf." Alexis replied.

"You are not invading. People just need to get to know you as something more than that girl from West High." Gabriella replied.

"That'll be easy." Alexis replied sarcastically.

"Come on, there has to be something on those announcements that you'd like to do." Gabriella pursued.

"Well, at my old school I played basketball." Alexis said nervously.

"There you go!" Gabriella said, glad that she finally found something.

"But East High's basketball teams are pretty competitive. They won't want me there, the kids will think I'm trying to hack into their plays or something like that. They won't be nice." Alexis said looking down.

Gabriella thought Alexis was pretty cool, and sweet too. She was hurt easily, but anyone would be after the welcome she got. Why shouldn't she play basketball? It sounds like she'd like it.

"They won't bother you," Gabriella said suddenly, realizing something.

"Why not?" Alexis asked, with a little glimmer of hope.

"For tryouts, the boys and girls tryout together, right?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Alexis said.

"Like you pair up with a boy and do some two on two with them first. And then you pair up with your girl's team later, after the coaches saw how you would hold your own with someone other than a teammate?" Gabriella quickly continued.

"Um, yeah," Alexis said, really confused about what Gabriella meant.

"Great, then pair up with Troy!" Gabriella said.

"Who's Troy?" asked Alexis.

"He's my boyfriend and the captain of the boys basketball team. If he decides that you're cool, everyone will and they might be a lot more accepting of you. He practically runs the school." Gabriella explained.

"And you're sure he'll be nice?" Alexis asked, still worried.

"Positive." Gabriella stated. "But just in case I'll go in with you and talk to him."

"Thanks." Alexis said warmly.

"No problem."

Troy was already shooting some hoops when Gabriella and Alexis arrived.

"Troy," Gabriella said, motioning for him to come over.

"Hey," Troy said looking at Gabriella, then at Alexis. He realized that Alexis was from West High.

"What's up?" he asked unsurely, very confused as to why Gabriella would bring a West Higher over to him.

"Alexis is going to tryout for the team, but I think she needs someone to protect her from the Wildcat's. Could you do that?" Gabriella asked, for the first time in her life making a question to Troy sound more like an order that he has to oblige to. She knew it was in the name of good, but felt horrible after trying to order Troy around.

"Yeah," Troy said, after a few moments. "Sure, she can partner up with me. I'm Troy by the way." he said, showing a little more kindness than last time he expected himself to. He showed Alexis where she ca go to practice and looked back at Gaby, who while she was leaving looked back gratefully. Troy was fine with helping Alexis since Gabriella found her acceptable, but he's not so sure what the other East Higher's will think.

"You okay?" Alexis asked, catching Troy staring at nothing.

"Oh, yeah." he quickly said. "Let's shoot some hoops!" this time his voice sounded a lot more welcoming.

"Ugh!" Kelsi moaned, her head falling onto her piano in frustration. It was at this time that Gabriella was walking past the music room and she heard Kelsi.

"You alright?" she asked, coming in.

"Yeah, just stressed." Kelsi said, her head remaining in the position it was at before.

"Why?" Gabriella asked, taking the seat next to Kelsi. She was so used to this seat, because this was the seat she spent hours in while practicing for last year's musical.

"Because, that of that stupid wannabe Sharpay, Sarah Leslie!" Kelsi declared.

"What's so horrible about her?" Gabriella asked. Here was another person who didn't like someone from West High.

"Because she handed a composition for the fall musical in early, and Miss Darbus loved it. And I mean, loved it! If she could marry it, she would." Kelsi said, not even wanting to think about it.

"Well, there's still time to submit yours." Gabriella said.

"Mines not nearly as good." Kelsi replied.

"Well, let's hear it then." Gabriella said, scooting closer to the sheet of music. Kelsi began to slowly play the piano and Gabriella began to sing.

_I don't know what to say_

_I've never felt this way_

_When your near, my knees go weak_

_Sometimes I find it to so hard to speak_

_What can I say_

_To tell you how I feel_

_What can I do_

_To show you this is real_

_Here's an invitation_

_To my heart_

_Time for celebration_

_This is where true love starts_

_Here's my deceleration_

_I love you so_

_So don't ever let me go_

_My defenses disappear_

_Whenever you are near_

_And it scares me too_

_That I feel the way I do_

_Sometimes it's hard to say_

_And tell you what I feel_

'_Cause you make me feel this way_

_I just wanna know it's real_

_What can I do to seal the deal?_

_Here's an invitation_

_To my heart_

_Time for celebration_

_This is where true love starts_

_Here's my deceleration_

_I love you so_

_So don't ever let me go_

_What would I do_

_If you I didn't have you_

_Forever_

_But never together_

_I would not survive_

'_Cause you make me feel_

_So alive_

_Oh, so alive_

_Here's an invitation_

_To my heart_

_Time for celebration_

_This is where true love starts_

_Here's my deceleration_

_I love you so_

_So don't ever let me go_

_So, don't ever let me go_

Kelsi finished playing the piano and Gabriella finished singing and Gabriella stood there stunned.

"I know, it's horrible." Kelsi said, burying her head into her hands.

"No, it's far from horrible." Gabriella said. She loved that song so much because that was exactly how she felt about Troy. Grant it, she didn't give him the invitation to her heart yet, but she wanted to. The song was perfect.

"Kelsi, that was amazing." Gabriella said.

"Yeah, it was." someone else coming from the other side of the room said. It was Justin Thompson from Gabriella's Physics class.

"That was great." he said. "Oh, and Taylor sent me down to ask if you were joining the Scholastic Decathlon team this year." he said to Gabriella, remembering why he actually came down.

"Oh, tell her I will." Gabriella replied. "This is Kelsi," she said, introducing Kelsi to Justin.

"She wrote the song." Gabriella added.

"Well, it was beautiful." he said.

"Thanks." Kelsi said blushing.

"And you're voice, is amazing." he said, turning to Gabriella, who blushed even more.

"Well, I'm nothing without Kels, here." she said putting an arm around Kelsi.

"Well, great job. I'll see you girls around." Justin said, opening the door to leave, but giving one last smile to Gabriella.

Justin walked down the hallway and realized, he thought about Gaby's beauty, brains, and voice. Yeah, he liked her. But Troy won't like that too much.


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

"Hey Pretty Girl." Troy said, coming up to Gabriella's locker. Gabriella gave him a smile.

"Hey. How did tryouts go?" she asked. That was the question she had been dying to ask him. She really wanted to know how Alexis held up.

"It went great!" Troy said, a lot more enthusiastically than Gabriella expected.

"Define great." she said.

"Well, I totally made the team,"

"As expected."

"And so did the rest of the Wildcats, and Alexis did pretty good herself." Troy said.

"Really?" Gabriella asked, very happy.

"Yeah, the girl's got talent. And she is pretty cool too. I mean, she's amazing. Did you know she sings too? Oh, and her jumpshot is amazing. And she's so funny! Really awesome! She should totally hang with our group." Troy ranted out, not even saying all the amazing things he thought she was.

"That sounds great." Gabriella said, her face suddenly falling. Why was Troy suddenly all caught up with another girl?

"Oh, and Kelsi wants us to help her with her duet after school." Gabriella suddenly remembered, that would be a way to keep Troy with her. He loves it when the two of them sing together.

"I kind of promised Alexis that now that she made the team, I'd practice with her a bit." Troy said.

Gabriella was a little shocked, those two became fast friends. And she was a little jealous. But it's not as if she would admit that. Troy can hang out with whoever he wants, it's not as if she owns him. She and Troy are as tight as ever. Everything's fine.

"Well, I kind of promised Kelsi that we'd help her." Gabriella said. She decided that asking Troy to ditch Alexis was mean, so she settled for a compromise. Troy didn't say anything. He looked like he wanted to play basketball with Alexis.

"How about you spend half of the time practicing with me and Kelsi, and the rest with Alexis." Gabriella said, trying to hide her vexation when she said Alexis. They're friends, let it go, she told herself. Besides it would make Troy happy.

"Um, okay." he said reluctantly. "You sure that Alexis will understand?"

"Yeah. I'll tell her in Physics. She'll be fine with it." Gabriella said, and with that closing her locker and heading off to class without saying goodbye to Troy. She was being stupid, and she knew it. But she couldn't help it.

"Hey," Alexis said, sitting down next to Gabriella in class.

"Oh, hey," Gabriella said half heartedly. She was overreacting, she knew that. Why couldn't she just act like that?

"Thanks for letting me hang with Troy yesterday. He was awesome!" Alexis said, giddily.

"Yeah, Troy's something." Gabriella said. "That's why I'm dating him." she added.

"I can definitely see why." Alexis said. Before Gabriella could say something back, Justin sat down next to them.

"Hey Gaby." he said, taking out his homework.

"Hey Justin." Gabriella said, smiling.

"So, how'd the practice go yesterday?" Justin asked.

"Excuse me?" Gabriella asked, confused.

"Weren't you practicing for the school musical?" he asked.

"No. Just singing with my friend, she wants to submit her work for it. So I was just letting her know how it sounded." Gabriella replied.

"Well, it sounded amazing." Justin said.

The bell just rang, but the teacher was late, like usual. So, the class went on talking.

"I totally think that you should go out for the musical Gaby. You did it last year, right?" Alexis said cutting into their conversation.

"Yeah," Gabriella said. "With Troy." she added, again making sure that Alexis knew that Troy was hers.

"Yeah, he told me." Alexis said. "And he has an amazing voice too. I tricked him into singing. You two must sound great together." Alexis said.

"Yeah, we are great together." Gabriella said showing a not so subtle hint.

"Who's Troy?" Justin asked, now the one confused.

"My boyfriend." Gabriella said.

"Oh," Justin said, his heart sinking. He really liked Gaby but she had a boyfriend.

"Yeah, Troy is the captain of the basketball team! He's an awesome player!" Alexis said. Wait, Justin thought, a smart girl like Gaby is dating a moron from the basketball team?, that needs to be fixed. In that moment Justin came up with a plan, a plan to win over Gaby and have her dating an intellectual like himself. Then the teacher came in, and Justin began to put his plan into action.

Troy and Gabriella entered the music room after classes, to find Kelsi in the same position she was in before, with her head on top of the piano, collapsed from frustration.

"What horrible song did you write this time?" Gabriella asked sarcastically.

"A dreadful duet." Kelsi said.

"What's it called?" asked Gaby.

"'The One'"

"Come on Playmaker, I'm sure it's awesome." Troy said. "Play it."

Gabriella- How can I

Troy- How can I

Gabriella- How can I define you

Troy- I'm bound by you

Gabriella- I am in love with you

Troy- What we have is so true

Together-

I never would

Have believed it

But now I see

Gabriella- I've found the one

Together- The one to hold me

Troy- Number one

Together- You're my only

Gabriella- The first one

Together- To show me

What love could really be

You're love is unbelievable

So unbelievable to me

Troy- How can I

Gabriella- How can I

Troy- Show you

Gabriella- What should

Troy- I do

Gabriella- I wanna shout from the rooftops

Troy- I wanna scream your name 'til my voice is lost

Together-

I never would

Have believed it

But now I see

Gabriella- I've found the one

Together- The one to hold me

Troy- Number one

Together - You're my only

Gabriella- The first one

Together- To show me

What love could really be

You're love is unbelievable

So unbelievable to me

Troy- You're the one I see

Gabriella- The one who's there for me

Troy- You're the one I feel

Gabriella- The one I know who's real

Troy- You're the one I think of

Gabriella- The only one I'll ever love

Troy- The only one I'll ever love

Together-

I've found the one

The one to hold me

Number one

You're my only

The first one

To show me

What love could really be

You're love is unbelievable

So unbelievable to me

Together-

I've found the one

The one

Who's unbelievable to me

The only one

The only one for me

"Wow," Gabriella said. That song was beautiful. How could Miss Darbus not chose it? And once she does, Troy and her will be on stage singing it together. She will make Troy tryout. That song is just too great to pass up.

"You did it again Kels." Troy said, he was pretty much speechless.

"It was great," another voice said, from across the room. Again Justin was standing there.

"Hey, Justin." Gabriella said. He comes by a lot, she thought. "Oh, this is Troy."

"The famous Troy," Justin said. "Hey man."

"Hey," Troy replied back. Troy was a little surprised that Gabriella knew someone he didn't. He knows everyone, but not this guy.

"Gabs, can I ask you a question?" Justin asked. Troy gave her a look, but didn't say anything.

"Yeah, sure." Gabriella said.

"I should go over to see Alexis," Troy said leaving the room. "Bye," he said to Gaby and Kelsi, not to Justin. He had a weird feeling about that guy.

Gabriella and Justin were in the hallway after Gabriella finished up with Kelsi. Troy was off with Alexis, so Gabriella needed something to do. And Justin seemed like good company, so why not hang with him?

"So, you missed the Scholastic Decathlon Meeting today," Justin said.

"Yeah, Taylor said I could skip it today because Kelsi needed help. Kelsi and Taylor and Troy and a bunch of other people are like, I guess part of my group. So, Taylor let me off the hook." Gabriella explained.

"Wow, drama club hanging out with the science nerds, and the science nerds hanging out with the basketball players. East High is, different." he said, struggling to find the right word to describe all the groups meshing together.

"I'm not a fan of labels." Gabriella said.

"Right." Justin replied awkwardly. "Um, Alexis joined the team."

"Basketball team," Gabriella said, already knowing she made it.

"No Scholastic Decathlon and basketball." Justin corrected.

"Oh," Gabriella said weakly. Gabriella realized that just yesterday she told Alexis that she wasn't invading on anybody's turf, but Alexis was turning out to getting as close to invading Gabriella's, without actually invading it.

"Yeah, and Taylor's annoyed because with Alexis here Taylor's not the smartest girl in school anymore. How shallow is it to be annoyed about being the smartest? Talk about labeling." Justin said.

"She's not shallow. She just wants that top spot because if you look at it by GPA that's what could get her a scholarship or get her into Harvard or something like that. I think that's it." Gabriella said, defending her friend.

"Right," Justin said awkwardly.

"What was the question you wanted to ask me?" Gabriella asked, trying to break the silence.

"Oh, right. See, I do well in science in math, but when it comes time to do it in class I freeze up." he began. "Like today in class, I got like every question wrong." Justin said.

"So, you want me to tutor you?" Gabriella asked.

"Maybe a little," Justin said.

"Sure." Gabriella said to Justin's surprise. "We can meet after the Decathlon meetings."

"Great!" Justin said.

He was surprised that Gabriella actually bought it. He had to know science, he was on the Scholastic Decathlon team after all. Science was his thing, he didn't have a problem with it. But he didn't need to tell Gaby that. Phase one, complete.

But he didn't give Gabriella Montez enough credit. She knew he knows science, so she deducted that he liked her. So why would she agree to tutor him? To make Troy jealous of course.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry it's taken so long to update, I've been sick. Thanks for all the reviews. And I am going to take some advice and add a lot more of the East High Wildcats, but it'll take a little while for that to start happening. But it will! So, until then, here is a filler chapter that hopefully will give you some clues of what's to come. Please read and review! I'll try to add more soon!**

* * *

Kelsi was walking down the hallway, on her way to homeroom with her head drooping down to the floor in a way that almost made her glasses slide off her face. This behavior was noticed by Gabriella who was taking various books from her backpack and putting them into her locker. She picked quickly picked up her book exchange pace so she could reach Kelsi before the bell rang. Finally when all of her heavy books were in their place she raced over to her friend.

"Morning Kels," Gabriella said, clutching her books close to her chest so she doesn't drop them in the mob of people that congested the hallways. Kelsi grunted a good morning but it was practically inaudible.

"What's so interesting down there?" Gabriella joked while following Kelsi's gaze to the ground that she was staring at. Before Kelsi could respond the two girls bumped into a tall, dark and handsome boy who looked to be around their age.

"I'm sorry." Gabriella said, as she went bent over on the ground to pick up the guy's scattered books. But the boy stopped her.

"I can take care of it. There is no need for a lady to be on the floor picking up back breakingly heavy textbooks." he replied. Gabriella reluctantly got up and thanked him.

"I'm Gabriella, by the way." she said, then she turned over to her friend. "And this is Kelsi." Kelsi tried to smile, but it didn't come out as she had expected.

"I'm..." the boy began to say but was cut in by the voice of someone else.

"Sanders." Troy said, as he was walking over with Chad and Martha. He quickly put a protective arm around Gabriella, which she was almost tempted to shrug off because of the sheer force of it.

"Yeah, I'm David Sanders." David awkwardly said, finishing the introduction.

"Oh, you two know each other?" Gabriella asked. This was met by a loud scoff from Chad.

"He is the star of West High's basketball team." Chad cut in. "But now I guess you're stuck here at East High."

"It's not that bad." David began.

"So, are you gonna try out for East High's team? Tryouts are today." Gabriella said, still hopeful that East High and West High would merge together and become one big, happy family. But Troy quickly nudged her, giving her a look that told her to not talk about tryouts.

"Our team?" Chad asked, making sure David knew where he stood.

"We're gonna be late and as much as I'm enjoying watching this spectacle of repressed hostility, I really don't wanna get detention from Miss Darbus." Martha said, breaking up the fight that she was positive would break out shortly.

"Yeah, I better get going." David said, making his way through the halls before giving Martha a silent thank you.

Once David was out of sight Gabriella immediately shook Troy's resting arm off of her shoulder and shot him a look of anger that could burn right through him. Chad also got that piercing look.

"What?" the two boys asked.

"What?" Gabriella mocked. "What is your problem? He is a nice guy."

"He," Chad said, pointing to David walking down the hall. "Is the enemy."

"Troy, talk some sense into him." Gabriella urged.

"No, Troy," Chad cut in. "Talk some sense into her."

Troy stood in place not sure what to do. He can't have his best friend angry at him, but he most definitely didn't want his girlfriend angry at him, even though he did agree with Chad.

"Maybe we went a little overboard." Troy finally said. Chad rolled his eyes.

"You have him trained well." Chad commented before mumbling something about needing to go and get in some practice before homeroom, leaving his friends standing there, shocked at why Chad was acting so out of character.

"What was that all about?" Martha asked.

"He's just stressed over basketball." Troy said. "Look at it from his view, we're seniors, it's our last year as a team. We don't need our enemies messing that up. It's East High's year and it's being ruined by West High."

"And you don't think that West High feels the exact same way?" Gabriella asked. Troy tried to keep a straight face. Gabriella just didn't understand.

"It's complicated." he finally said. Now Gabriella was the one trying to keep a straight face, Troy just didn't understand. Martha felt a fight coming on a quickly tried to defuse the situation.

"Troy, you're Dad wanted me to tell you to get in some practice ASAP. He was complaining about it being scholarship year and you need to really work at it. Can you go before he corners me about the importance of training again?" Martha asked, making up a lie, but knowing Mr. Bolton wouldn't complain if Troy went to practice more.

"Yeah," Troy mindlessly said. "I'll see you guys later."

Gabriella watched Troy walk off, hating that she got him upset. Also hating that she got Chad, one of her best friend's upset. Plus, Kelsi was still in a depressed state and Gabriella hadn't found out why. But Kelsi still was staring at the ground and wasn't looking in the mood to talk.

"Gabriella, Kelsi," Martha finally said. "I've got a question for you."

"Shoot." Gabriella said. Kelsi didn't really hear.

"Well," Martha said, playing with her fingers nervously. "You know how we were having so much fun at the Lava Springs talent show over the summer?"

"Yeah, it was a ball." Gabriella said.

"I was thinking, that I should tryout for the lead in the school play." Martha said nervously. "Maybe you guys can help me out and we can all tryout together."

"Yeah, that sounds awesome!" Gabriella said, smiling. It would be amazing to get back up onstage but it would be even cooler if all of her friends were up there with her, or just Troy. But both would give her the most amazing time of her life.

"That is," Kelsi finally said, breaking the silence she had long been holding. "If any of us fit into Sarah Leslie's vision."

"What are you talking about?" Martha asked.

"Sarah Leslie?" Gabriella said, trying to place the name. "The girl who looks like she could be Sharpay's twin?"

"That would be her." Kelsi said with vexation. "Ms. Darbus picked her play 'I Love My Oh-So-Wonderful Life' over mine." Kelsi moaned.

"What!" the other two girls said at once.

"Exactly!" Kelsi replied. "And she's a West Higher who's personality is just as overly manipulating as Sharpay's. If I had to guess, she will trick Ms. Darbus into molding her play into an all West High production. I doubt any of us have a shot at any parts."

"We can't be sure of that." Gabriella said. Then, for the second time that day all three girls got rammed into by someone, causing all of their books to fall onto the ground.

"Sorry," all of them quickly said, picking up there books.

"You should be!" said a girl who was wearing all pink and had blonde hair, named Sarah Leslie.

"Yeah, stay out of our way." the girl standing next to her, named Sharpay Evans added.

"We'll be more careful next time." Gabriella said. Great, now Sharpay and Sarah are friends!

"Good." the two blondes said in unison.

"Oh, and I'm so sorry your composition wasn't selected for the musical." Sarah said with mock sympathy, trying to rub her success in Kelsi's face. "But don't worry, with my all star cast, lead by Sharpay Evans of course, this production will be one for the books! I'm glad I'm here to save East High from the amateur composers."

"Wow, plotting to take over the drama department a little soon aren't you?" Kelsi asked. "Auditions haven't even started yet."

"What you guys actually thought you'd get a role?" Sarah asked, partly laughing.

"Why wouldn't we?" Gabriella asked.

"You," Sarah began, pointing to Kelsi. "Aren't even good enough to get one measly song chosen for the play. Why on earth would you get a role? But maybe if you grew a foot or two you might actually have a chance."

"You," this time her finger was pointed to Gabriella. "Had you're chance to shine, and from what I hear, it wasn't even that good." Sarah lied.

"And you," Sarah concluded pointing to Martha. "Well, just look in the mirror and you'll see why you can never be a star." Sarah said before walking off.

Sharpay gave the girls a look of sympathy.

"Girls, I'm sor..." But before she could finish Sarah dragged her off. Kelsi looked just as depressed as before, if not more, but Martha had tears rolling down her face.

"Why did I ever think I had a shot?" she cried.

"She doesn't make the choice and she doesn't even know what she's talking about. You are the best dancer I've ever met!" Gabriella said, comforting her friend.

"Yeah, but if I try to dance, I'll probably just break the stage." Martha cried before running off.

"Can we plot how to kill Sarah Leslie now?" Kelsi asked as she watched her friend run off crying.

"Maybe not kill, but we definitely need to put her in her place."


End file.
